Foxie has a complicated relationship with her dolls. As most of you know, Foxie is rarely without one (or two or three). It can be very emotionally appealing to see Foxie exhibit maternal behaviors with her Doras and trolls, particularly when you learn of the five babies she had stolen from her while in the lab, as Debbie shared yesterday. There is no doubt that Foxie receives comfort from her dolls, but at times she also seemingly uses them to express her frustration.
As much as we see her kiss them, carry them on her back as a mother chimpanzee would do with her children, or become distressed when they are out of her reach, we also see her spend significant amounts of time giving them a good wallop. Foxie is very intense during these times and typically uses a tool to rapidly and repeatedly strike against the dolls. It’s very loud and many of the tools she uses get broken as a result. When she is engaging in this behavior she is very focused and isn’t often interested in much else that may be going on around her.
Notice the toy screwdriver in her left hand and the intense look on her face:
Foxie often remains serious and a bit distant for some time after these stormy displays:
But then the clouds pass and you see the “Foxie light” return in her eyes. While this is really outside the realm of what we have learned about chimpanzee behavior, we could be tempted to try and psychoanalyze her behavior to death. But in reality we really don’t know what’s going on in Foxie’s mind. This is just Foxie. Like each of the chimpanzees, she is an incredibly strong, intelligent, resilient and courageous person and this is how she sometimes chooses to express herself. We love and accept her for exactly who she is, every minute of every day. And that’s all we need to know.
It makes me sad for her to think of what might have happened to her to compel her to act out. Or maybe it’s just regular chimpanzee behavior to act out physically from time to time. It could be hormonal. Nevertheless, I appreciate your attitude of acceptance and observation. She is safe now and that is what matters.
From what I know, which is admittedly limited to some books, chimps will act out with each other they will do so especially or violently on their infants/children. It is I’m sure a result of treatment, loss of her own children etc. We are alike chimps and us and what woman wouldn’t be having trouble coping from time to time if all five of her children had been taken from her. It’s more amazing that she does not do more. And to humans.
OOPS! Sorry, I meant they will NOT normally act out in such a way with their infants.
Hard to resist theorizing on Foxie’s behavior. I wonder if she is sometimes angry with her dolls for not being real babies; or perhaps she has moments of blaming her babies for leaving her. But as you say, we’ll never know.
These photos are remarkable. You can see the emotion and feeling in her eyes and demeanor. Absolutely fascinating. I love Foxie and hope she gains comfort from her babies.
We love and accept for exactly who she is, every minute of every day. And that’s all SHE needs to know.
i love foxie…we all have a dark side, if we admit it or not…her’s is just on display.
Oh Foxie. Maybe in these dark moments, the dolls fill the roll of the awful people who treated her poorly and used her for the hepatitis vaccine research and as a breeder for the biomedical research industry. How do you ever forget a past like that? The true beauty is that you love her, no matter what. And that is all WE need to know!
Lets just hope this is not behaviour that she experienced herself in her previous life 🙁
It’s hard not to believe this mirrors how she was treated at some time in her life, perhaps for some time. As jailers and others too often revert to cruel treatment of their charges, so too these lovely chimps may well have been treated. I’m sure Foxie is sickened by her own revisiting of the feelings arising from the behavior. It’s not anthropomorphizing when discussing primates having spent many years in close proximity with humans, especially when deprived of peer influence. These responses are indeed studied still in psych labs in this country, and the findings generalized to explain human behavior. In any case, all I can think now is, “Poor, poor babies!” And I rejoice for every day they and others may have now in sanctuaries with caring treatment and in company with their peers.